The broadcaster was criticized on social media by various prominent figures over its “poor judgement” for interviewing Robinson on their flagship Newsnight program.

The show aired on the same day that Osborne, 48, was found guilty of killing one person and injuring 12 others when he ploughed his van into a crowd outside a mosque in Finsbury Park, north London.

The jury had been told that Osborne wanted to kill as many Muslims possible when he carried out his premeditated attack in June 2017.

During the trial, Osborne’s partner, Sarah Andrews, told the court that he had become “brainwashed” after bingeing on social media posts by far-right extremists, including those by Robinson and Britain First leaders Paul Golding and Jayda Fransen.

Robinson is now suing the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) over what he says is an “incorrect claim” that there was “direct social media contact” between himself and Osborne.

Following the interview, in which Robinson sparred with presenter Kirsty Wark, many took to Twitter to voice their objections. Guardian contributors Dawn Foster and Suzanne Moore attacked the decision, respectively.  

In turn, Independent contributor Jonathon Shafi warned that the BBC’s decision to interview Robinson will deal a blow to its reputation.

While other users expressed their frustration at the taxpayer-funded BBC:

The broadcaster has also faced censure after Dean Haydon, head of Scotland Yard's counter terrorism command, said its drama ‘Three Girls,’ based on the stories of victims of the Rochdale sex-abuse scandal, was the “first trigger” for Osborne’s hatred of the Muslim community.

In his BBC interview Robinson referred to Haydon's claim after being challenged, by Wark, on his own perceived influence on Osborne.